Rs230m cheque of private firm owned by media owner for payment of fraudulent NPF plot dishonoured

ISLAMABAD: A cheque of Rs230 million from a private firm, M/S SMB Services (Pvt) Ltd, submitted for the payment of a second installment of a plot auctioned from the National Police Foundation (NPF) was dishonoured.

As per the details, last year, the private company brought more than a 5,000-square-yard plot in Islamabad’s E-11 sector for Rs1.08 billion during the sealed-bid auction method instead of an open auction.

The plot was allocated to M/S SMB at a throwaway price after the payment of the first installment of Rs170 million.

However, the payment of the second installment failed after the cheque in the name of the National Police Foundation (NPF) was bounced due to insufficient amounts in the company’s account.

The possession was also given illegally as the NPF allotment rules suggest that the possession can only be given after receipt of full payment from the buyer.

According to the Daily Ausaf report, published here, the sealed-bid auction method was adopted for the sale of a 14 Kanal (s) plot, which was sold for Rs1.08 billion only. The commercial plot was the amalgamation of eight plots.

Sources within the NPF said that the sealed-bid auction was adopted to benefit a particular company — M/S SMB Services (Pvt) Ltd — by selling the plot to it at a very cheap price as compared to market rates. The auction resulted in the loss of approximately Rs5 billion to the national exchequer.

According to the report, only two firms, M/S Convolair (Pvt) Ltd and M/S SMB Services (Pvt) Ltd submitted their birds which were opened on December 28, 2023.

The investigation further revealed that the eligibility criteria were changed to facilitate the bid winner company, which was run by four directors including Alina, Moomal Shunaid, Shanzeh Shunaid, and Shunaid Qureshi, also a Director of an Islamabad-based prominent new outlet.

Interestingly, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) during the same year had disposed of four much smaller plots at Rs7.7 billion through an open auction.